WEBVTT - Introducing: Wilder

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<v Speaker 1>She's a Hollywood Western. She's Jack Kerouac, but in a

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<v Speaker 1>n ap dress with braids.

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<v Speaker 2>She is one of the most important American children's authors

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<v Speaker 2>of the twentieth century.

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<v Speaker 1>She's the basis for a television show still watched around

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<v Speaker 1>the world. I literally wake up in the middle of

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<v Speaker 1>the night and go, somebody somewhere is watching Little as

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<v Speaker 1>the Brow.

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<v Speaker 2>Women will come up to me, cry and saying, my

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<v Speaker 2>childhood was miserable. In Little House in the Prairie was

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<v Speaker 2>my escape.

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<v Speaker 1>She's been called a hero, a racist, a feminist, and

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<v Speaker 1>a propagandist.

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<v Speaker 3>Consider a Native child in their classroom reading it aloud,

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<v Speaker 3>and they come to that sentence, the only good Indian

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<v Speaker 3>is a dead Indian.

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<v Speaker 1>She is Laura Ingles Wilder. Did you know she was

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<v Speaker 1>a real person. In the nineteen thirties, Laura Ingles Wylder

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<v Speaker 1>wrote the nine Little House on the Prairie books based

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<v Speaker 1>on her childhood on the American Frontier Way or another.

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<v Speaker 1>She's been with us ever since. Oh I love I

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<v Speaker 1>loved that.

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<v Speaker 2>I loved Little House on the Prairie.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just a perfect book. I've loved Laura for as

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<v Speaker 1>long as I can remember. As a kid, I used

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<v Speaker 1>to map out her travels on my parents Atlas, and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not alone. Every summer, thousands of people from around

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<v Speaker 1>the world pilgrimage to her little houses in tiny towns

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<v Speaker 1>from the middle of the country. Now I'm going too.

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<v Speaker 1>We're literally on the prairie. I went in search of Laura,

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<v Speaker 1>the real Laura. Who is this person I love so much?

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<v Speaker 1>Should I love her? The story of Laura is just

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<v Speaker 1>as complicated as the story of America, because she is

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<v Speaker 1>America for better and worse.

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<v Speaker 2>So if we pretend the past was not as controversial

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<v Speaker 2>and difficult and racist as it was, then how are

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<v Speaker 2>we going to deal with the racist issues were grappling

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<v Speaker 2>with today in.

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<v Speaker 1>A country currently at odds with itself and its history.

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<v Speaker 1>Could there be a better time for this exploration? There's

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<v Speaker 1>never been a better time than now. I'm Glennys McNichol,

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<v Speaker 1>and this is Wilder. Listen to Wilder on the iHeartRadio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.